Confused

Bert and I were at the park, sitting on one of the benches and just talking when my phone rang. We both sighed because I noticed it was Gerard calling me.

“Just answer it Frank. That way he’ll stop calling.”

F: Hello?
G: Frankie, Where are you?
F: At the park. Where are you?
G: Bathroom. Uhm Frank, can we meet later? We need to seriously talk.
F: What’s wrong with now?
G: I preferred it if I told you about this personally.
F: Okay. Is that all you wanted to say?
G: Yeah.
F: Okay. Bye.
G: I love you!

And I hung up as soon as he said it. Bert leaned closer and held my chin up.

“Hey…don’t be ashamed Frankie. Don’t be sad. Today, right here, right now is all about you. Okay?”

I nodded and tried to smile and stretched his arms for a hug. I accepted his offer and cuddled closer to his chest.

“Bert, you’ll never leave me right? Ever?”

“I bet my life on it skittle.”

Gerard’s POV
I couldn’t break Eliza’s heart today. Sure, I love Frank and all but I can’t handle hurting Eliza. She’s been through some major shit and I, being the kind person I am, would never want to add to that.

~10 minutes ago~

“Gerard, I am so glad you married my Eliza!”
“Yeah. I am too.”
“And I almost lost hope that my dear Eliza would never find somebody.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, back then, she used to be madly in love with this guy. I forgot his name something with an M…”
“Matt?”
“Yes! Him. Well, she was so in love with Matt that she would do anything for him.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, one time he asked her for…something and she gladly gave…it. Then the next few days, he would always stay with her, trying to have her do it again but one time. One little time, she got sick and she said no and he left. She became quite lonely because he didn’t show up after weeks.”
“Yeah. He sort of disappeared from our radars too.”

Her mom looked quite shocked that I knew so much about Matt. I guess Eliza didn’t tell her that I used to be Matt’s best friend.

“I guess you know the story then Gerard.”
“Not the whole thing Mrs. Cuts. It’s just that I knew Matt that time and when he disappeared, Eliza asked us if we’ve seen him.”
“Oh…well…Matt came back one night. Drunk as hell. I don’t know all the details though. What I do know was that he beat her up.”

This was news for me. At a certain night, Matt came back with bloody fists and he just said he got in a bar fight.

“Well, the next day, her dad showed up. We were divorced that time but he came back because he was drunk too. I guess he saw her and thought he was someone else and started beating her up too. Her brother got home just in time to save her but she was hurt real badly. She was brought to the hospital and had to stay there for months because of all the injuries.”
“And then?”
“She became depressed. Wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t eat, would just sleep and cry.”
“It came out on the news that Matt and his car crashed after he had a fight with his friends. Then you came along.”

I only visited her that time because Matt had something to give her. Before he started drinking, he wanted her to be happy. He only started getting drunk because he cheated on her.

“You were her angel Gerard. You had her talk and when she got back here, all she ever talked about was you. It gave us hope. You gave us hope.”

I called Frank because not only was it hard for us to keep it all a secret but also because I couldn’t bear the burden of destroying Eliza and her family.

Frank’s POV

Bert and I spent the whole day together and I couldn’t stop laughing. We picked out Halloween costumes and bought lots of candy and ice cream and we had our hair done. He had his hair dyed while I had it cut and dyed all black. Nobody sent us dirty looks and not a single teenie ruined our day. We held hands for a bit and played in the arcade and did a lot more stuff.

It was getting late though so here I was sitting in Bert’s car driving me to my place. He parked right in front and walked me to the front door. We lingered a bit, holding all my purchases with a certain difficulty. I took out my key and unlocked my door and dropped some of the bags inside and took the rest from Bert, putting them beside the rest.

I hugged him again while muttering “Thank you” and he just held me. When we pulled away, he kissed my forehead.

“Goodnight Skittle. I’ll call you tomorrow now go get some sleep!”

“Goodnight Bert! And thanks for everything!” I yelled to the retreating back.

I stepped inside and closed the door, sliding my back to it. I held myself close and imagined Bert still holding me but something pushed at my thoughts.

What the hell will Bert McCracken be doing with Frank?!